Fazoli's Italian Restaurant To Offer Fast-food Service

Storefront

February 27, 1995|By PATRICIA LINEBERRY Daily Press

A Kentucky company broke ground last week on the area's first Fazoli's Italian Restaurant at 11739 Jefferson Ave. in Newport News - next door to the International House of Pancakes and across Jefferson from the Oyster Point business park.

Pasta Isles, owned by Frank Cain of Lexington, holds the local franchise, the chain's second in Virginia, and plans to open the restaurant in late April or early May.

Cain also runs 33 Long John Silver Seafood Shoppes in Illinois, said Frank Massino, operations director for Pasta Isles.

Fazoli's is a fast-food restaurant serving spaghetti, fettuccine alfredo, pizza, minestrone soup, salads and desserts. The 144-seat restaurant will have self-service drink and condiment stations inside and a drive-through window.

Cain plans to open 10 more franchises in Hampton Roads over the next four years, Massino said. Virginia's first Fazoli's opened in August in Christiansburg.

CATCH THE BUS, GUS. Pentran will roll out the welcome mat next week at its new facility in downtown Newport News.

"Our intentions are to start operating buses out of the station March 6," said Michael Townes, Pentran's executive director.

The facility, at 34th Street and Washington Avenue, will be equipped with vending machines and newsstands. More important, he said, the Newport News Police Department will occupy 3,500 square feet of office space inside the terminal.

Greyhound Bus Lines, which transferred its Jefferson Avenue operations to Pentran's new Hampton terminal in December, does not plan to operate out of the Newport News terminal, said Walter Benjamin, Greyhound's customer service manager.

"We are monitoring Hampton, and so far we can tell that our Newport News customers are coming to Hampton to travel," Benjamin said.

BROWSING ... Ukrop Super Markets Inc. was named "Grocer of the Year" by the Virginia Department of Agriculture and Consumer Services for actively promoting Virginia products. Winn-Dixie and Kroger were runner-ups. ... Nottingham Hallmark in Williamsburg Shopping Center will celebrate the grand opening of its newly expanded store Saturday with food and prize drawings.

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